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Kenneth Chamberlain Jr., center, and attorney Randolph McLaughlin walk with supporters during the May 26 Rally and March for Justice in White Plains. / JOURNAL NEWS FILE PHOTO

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Anyone looking for a deep and exhaustive discussion of the Nov. 19 police shooting death of Kenneth Chamberlain Sr. will have to look beyond the just-released study of the White Plains Police Department, the top-to-bottom inquiry ordered after a grand jury in May cleared police of any criminal wrongdoing in the case. The study, however, offers guidance that should prove helpful to the department and the public it serves.

The glowing, 83-page review, conducted by a four-member panel of academics with police experience, covered a wide range of department activity, including training, recruitment, technology, community outreach, assignments and supervision. But a mere 11 paragraphs address circumstances that prompted the review — the confrontation that ended with the 68-year-old Chamberlain being shot dead in his apartment, where police were summoned following the accidental trigger of Chamberlain’s medical-alert device.

Panelist Michael Walker, according to the section devoted to Chamberlain, concluded that the shooting — it occurred after police broke down the door to his South Lexington Avenue apartment — was “totally justified and took place only after negotiations and all non-lethal means were unsuccessful and Mr. Chamberlain came at a police sergeant with a knife.” The report stated that Walker, associate professor at Passaic County Community College and former director of the Paterson, N.J., police department, reviewed some 200 pages of documents along with crime scene photos, audio- and video-clips.

There is no mention of a racial slur and other off-color remarks directed at the animated Chamberlain during the confrontation; Chamberlain family members and their attorneys — aided by conversation recorded via the medical-alert device — allege that police taunted the ex-Marine during the siege, mocking his military service; referred to him as a “grown-ass man”; and used profanity in addressing him. Chamberlain, who had a heart condition, was described afterward by police as an “emotionally disturbed” person; he is heard on audio tapes both warning of impending doom and threatening to kill police.

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Fuller public discussion about what transpired between police and Chamberlain is still in the offing, even though a grand jury — their work conducted in secret — handed up no indictments. Chamberlain family members have filed a $21 million wrongful-death civil lawsuit against the city. It is pending in federal court.

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Walker’s brief review prompted two recommendations: “Purchase additional equipment, like cameras that can be slipped under the doors, in order to assess the gravity of given situations,” and ensure that a “hydraulic ram” — used to breach doors like those in such housing developments — is available “at all times” for emergencies. But another section of the report — it contains only a vague reference to the “factors and circumstances” that prompted the full department review — offers practical guidance that could help mitigate police-citizen confrontations before they spiral out of control.

A section devoted to training policies, procedures and practices calls upon the department to attain professional advice aimed at expanding department efforts to respond effectively to situations involving “Emotionally Disturbed Persons” — circumstances like those that confronted police at the Chamberlain apartment Nov. 19.

The report calls on the department to expand existing advanced training in dealing with the emotionally disturbed; some 66 officers have received 40 hours of instruction in “Emergency Psychological Training or Crisis Intervention Training.”

The report notes that White Plains police have already been active in their area, collaborating with the Westchester County Department of Community Mental Health in developing a “Crisis Intervention Mental Health Outreach Team” to “proactively engage persons in need of services.”

Quoting from a 2010 department document, the report set forth this rationale for the aforementioned initiative: “Preventing escalation of incidents with persons is fundamental to the Outreach Team approach, thus lessening the possibility of injury to police personnel and the individual in need.” The purported taunts directed at Chamberlain prior to the fatal shooting belie the prior efforts to de-escalate such stressful encounters.

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The report also referred the department to academic papers “that provide an alternative and innovative model to department training regarding EDP (emotionally disturbed person) and other Stressful Situations Training.” As we have observed before, cities that made special efforts to bolster training and expertise in dealing with such populations reported reductions in casualties to police and civilians, as police minimized the need for force, deadly or otherwise.

White Plains Mayor Thomas Roach said in a statement last week that the report’s recommendations “are thoughtful, informative and valuable. Some of the suggestions have already been adopted, some are in the process of being implemented, and others we look forward to discussing further with Dr. (Maria) Haberfeld,” chairwoman of the Department of Law and Police Science at the City University of New York, John Jay College of Criminal Justice. She led the review.

The Chamberlain shooting — however justified in the instant review and the grand jury’s exhaustive review— should serve as lasting impetus by the department to take the recommended training seriously, and to ensure that its precepts are put into everyday practice.